$220.00 USD
$78.00 USD 
$44.00 USD
$22.00 USD
$28.00 USD
This class is part of the six-part virtual World Embroidery Series II. Classes may be purchased à la carte at $75 or as a six-part package for a discounted price of $400.
In Bedouin Arabic, raqme means to embroider or decorate, and the same term describes the intricate geometric patterns woven into Bedouin carpets. The raqme stitch, known for its bold and geometric designs, appears on dresses from Hauran (southern Syria) and northern Jordan, but is native to Jordan on the traditional shirsh dress. In this hands-on class, you will learn a complete step-by-step method for practicing this historic stitch. The session includes an overview of raqme’s cultural history in Jordan and southern Syria, an in-depth dress study of a shirsh from the Tatreez Institute collection, and guided practice stitching the foundational raqme unit. You will also explore how to incorporate additional colors and motifs, and reflect on the traditional technique of stitching without a grid, a hallmark of raqme’s unique artistry.
Date + Time
Thursday, April 24th, 2025, 12 - 2:30 pm ET
Location
Zoom, a link will be emailed to participants the day before class.
Cost
$75 for the individual class
$400 for the series
Materials
Scholarships
There are scholarship spots available for this workshop. Please email info@tatter.org to learn more.
Our Teacher
Wafa Ghnaim is a dress historian, researcher, author, archivist, curator, educator and embroideress who learned from her mother, award-winning artist Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim. Wafa specializes in Palestinian, Syrian, Jordanian, and Lebanese dress history and identification, with a focus on traditional embroidery techniques, historic reconstruction and oral history.
Wafa’s first book, “Tatreez & Tea: Embroidery and Storytelling in the Palestinian Diaspora” (first ed 2016; second ed 2018), documents the traditional patterns and stories passed on to her by her mother. She has released a number of publications since, includingTHOBNA(2023), Tatreez Companion(2024), Tatreez Beauty: A Coloring Book(2024), and has published her research with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Institute for Palestine Studies,and more.
Wafa continues her mother’s educational legacy through the Tatreez Institute, a global arts education initiative she began in 2016teaching Palestinian, Syrian and Jordanian embroidery techniques and lecturing at leading institutions, museums and universities around the world. The Tatreez Institute stewards a collection of over 180 dresses and headdresses from Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon that were rematriated from households and shops across North America for the preservation, publication, and research of intangible cultural heritage in the diaspora.
Wafa was the first-ever Palestinian and Syrian embroidery instructor forthe Smithsonian Museum (2017-2021) and earned a prestigious senior research fellowship position atthe Metropolitan Museum of Art (2023-2024). Wafa has been featured in major media outlets throughout the duration of her career, includingVogue Magazine, which named her and her mother “the world’s leading guardians of tatreez”.
Wafa is currently serving as the Curator for the Museum of the Palestinian People.
Image Sources
Detail image, The bottom hem of a shirsh (dress) from Hauran, Southern Syria in the Tatreez Institute Collection (early 20th century)
A shirsh from Northern Jordan, with detailed raqme embroidery, as part of the collection in Tiraz Centre: Widad Kawar Home for Arab Dress (20th century)
Illustration by Ziad Zokari of a Hauran dress style, where Raqme appears (mid 20th century)
Headshot, Ashraf Hussein (2025)
*All classes in this series will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to all registrants following the live session. You may purchase the series as a whole even after the classes have begun. You will be emailed the recordings upon sign-up.
